Nearly 40% of peace museums nationwide are in financial trouble
Due to the spread of the new coronavirus, nearly 40% of the museums nationwide on the theme of war and peace are in a financially difficult situation due to a decline in admission fee income, a survey by a group made by concerned parties I understand. "In an unexpected and serious situation, it is important to explore new ways with the help of young people," said an expert in the survey.
This survey was conducted by the "Museum International Network for Peace", an organization made up of people involved in the Peace Museum, at the time of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. We got answers from 57 facilities.
Among them, when asked by multiple answers how the new coronavirus affected future plans of the facility, it was said that due to the spread of infection, income such as entrance fees and goods sales fell Nearly 40% of the 21 respondents answered that they faced with "I was faced with", and 5 facilities said that they had to consider closing the facility.
In addition, when asked about the implementation of the plan for 75 years after the war, among the 32 facilities that responded that they were planning, 14 were “stopped” and 5 were “postponed” due to the influence of the new coronavirus. There was.
On the other hand, as a response and ingenuity taken by the museum after the infection spread, we will introduce exhibits on SNS etc. and provide opportunities to listen to stories of war experienced people and curators online, etc. It was also found that the interest of was spreading.
Honorary Director Ikuro Anzai of the International Peace Museum at Ritsumeikan University, who conducted the survey, said, "In a serious situation that exceeded expectations, it would be truly abandoned if we didn't do anything under severe conditions, and the social function of the Peace Museum could not be fulfilled. It is important to develop new methods with the help of young people."
Main answer results
It is the main answer result of this questionnaire survey.
Some of the wording of the question has changed.
▽During 75 years after the war, did you have any plans?
・No planning (18)
・Planning (32)
・Holding as part of regular exhibition or planning (5)
▽I will visit the facility that answered that there is a plan. Did the memorial plan be implemented as the new coronavirus infection spreads?
・We carried out as planned (8)
・We had no choice but to cancel (14)
・We changed the contents and carried out (16)
・We postpone (5)
・We will examine in the future (6)
▽ New coronavirus is future Did it affect the impact (multiple answers)?
・Future plans will not be affected (10)
・Financial difficulties were faced (21)
・Closing was forced to consider (5)
・Enhancement of infection prevention measures such as "3 dense" measures・It was pressed for maintenance (35)
・
We recognized the importance of not only welcoming visitors but also actively disseminating information and thoughts of museums and museums (21)
・Others (12)
Submitting war experiences online
Due to the spread of the new coronavirus, the "War and Peace Museum Peace Aichi" in Nagoya was temporarily closed for two months from April, and even after reopening in June, the number of visitors is an average year. It is about one-fourth of that.
In addition, I was planning a special exhibition for the 75th year of the war this summer, but I was forced to postpone it to next year because I could not prepare for it.
While the challenge is how to fulfill its role as a peace museum by the spread of infection, Peace Aichi is looking for a new method of communication.
Every summer, a person who experienced war experiences tells the experiences of those days, and the first online event was held on the 8th of this month. Motoo Tsuzuki (89), who experienced an air raid in Toyokawa City, Aichi Prefecture, was using a video conferencing system at the time. I talked about my experience.
Until now, most of the participants were from Aichi prefecture, but this time the number of children outside the prefecture and the number of children has increased significantly. I learned a lot."
Mr. Tsuzuki said, "I want to pass on the misery of the war to as many people as possible, even using the online form."
Daisuke Miyahara, Director of Peace Aichi, said, “We must continue to carry on activities that tell the story of the war experience. Whatever the situation of Corona, we will think of various new forms of initiatives and plans, and rather the succession of war in a different style. I want to pursue.”
Unexpected response to crowdfunding
When we asked for donations through crowdfunding due to business difficulties, some museums received an unexpected response.
``Fukyukan'' in Naha City opened in 2013 as a facility where you can learn the postwar history of Okinawa, along with the achievements of Kameniro Senaga who served as Mayor Naha during the United States occupation and worked for the movement to return to the mainland. About 500 people visited each month mainly from tourists from outside the prefecture.
However, due to the influence of the new coronavirus, the number of visitors in the first half of this year fell by more than 80% compared to the same period of the previous year and it was in business difficulty, so this time we launched crowdfunding , Called for donations on the Internet.
Then, we received support from all over the country along with support messages such as "I want you not to lose corona" and "Never lose it", and in just one month from the start, we reached the target amount of 5 million yen.
Also, in order to let young people know about the museum, we opened an SNS and sent out information on exhibition materials and goods sold in the hall. Products such as T-shirts and dolls mainly for the younger generation. Since there were requests from all over the country to purchase, the museum is preparing for online sales.
Chihiro Uchimura, director of Fukakukan, said, “I was worried about what to do in the future with almost no customers coming. I think that we need to think about ways such as online transmission that are different from the past, for the future."